Unknown date Unknown author

Citizen's Charters

 Home » Subject » General Studies » Notes » Citizen's Charters

In any nation, there is a need of good governance for sustainable

development, both economic and social. The three major aspects
highlighted in good governance are transparency, accountability and
responsiveness of the administration. Citizens' Charters initiative is a
response to the mission for solving the problems which a citizen meets, day
in and day out, while dealing with the organisations providing public
services. The charter is the declaration of commitment to superiority in
service to customers of the department. The citizen charter declares the
standards for various services oｓered. It includes expectations of the
Organisation from the Citizens for fulfilling its commitment. Citizen charter
is available in India post website.

Buy These Notes in PDF Format

The concept of Citizens' Charter protects the trust between the service
provider and its users. Citizens' Charter was first expressed and
implemented in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government of
John Major in 1991 as a national programme with aim to constantly
improve the quality of public services for the people of the country so that
these services respond to the needs and wishes of the users.

Citizen charter is necessary;

To make administration accountable and citizen friendly.

To ensure transparency.
To take measures to improve customer service.
To adopt a stakeholder approach.
To save time of both Administration and the citizen.

https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General­Studies/notes/citizens­charters.html 1/7
12/20/2017 Citizen's Charters, Citizen Charters in India

Objective of the Citizens' Charter: Fundamental objectives of Citizens'

Charter are as follows:
1. Goal of Citizens' Charter is to empower the citizen in relation to public
service delivery.
Six principles of the Citizens' Charter movement as originally framed, were:

i. Quality: Improving the quality of services.

ii. Choice: Wherever possible.
iii. Standards: Specify what to expect and how to act if standards are not
met.
iv. Value: For the taxpayers' money.
v. Accountability: Individuals and Organisations.
vi. Transparency: Rules/ Procedures/ Schemes/Grievances.

Later on, these were elaborated by the Labour Government as following

nine principles of Service Delivery (1998):

1. Set standards of service

2. Be open and provide full information
3. Consult and involve
4. Encourage access and the promotion of choice
5. Treat all fairly
6. Put things right when they go wrong
7. Use resources eｓectively
8. Innovate and improve
9. Work with other providers

The Indian Scenario

Since many years, in India, noteworthy progress has been made in the field
of economic development. This, along with a considerable increase in the
literacy rate, (from 51.63% to 65.38% in the last decade) has made Indian
citizens increasingly aware of their rights. Citizens have become more
articulate and expect the administration not merely to respond to their
demands but also to anticipate them. It was in this climate that since 1996
a consensus had evolved in the Government on eｓective and responsive
administration.

https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General­Studies/notes/citizens­charters.html 2/7
12/20/2017 Citizen's Charters, Citizen Charters in India

Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances in

Government of India (DARPG) initiated the task of coordinating,
formulating and operationalising Citizens' Charters. Guidelines for
formulating the Charters as well as a list of do's and don'ts were
communicated to various government departments/organisations to enable
them to bring out focused and eｓective charters. For the formulation of the
Charters, the government agencies at the Centre and State levels were
advised to constitute a task force with representation from users, senior
management and the cutting edge staｓ. A Handbook on Citizen's Charter
has been developed by the Department and sent to all the State
Governments/UT Administrations.

The Charters are expected to integrate the following elements:

1. Vision and Mission Statement.

2. Details of business transacted by the organisation.
3. Details of clients.
4. Details of services provided to each client group.
5. Details of grievance redress mechanism and how to access it.
6. Expectations from the clients.

Principally, an adaptation of the UK model, the Indian Citizens' Charter has

an additional constituent of 'expectations from the clients'. Involvement of
consumer organisations, citizen groups, and other stakeholders in the
formulation of the Citizens' Charter is highlighted to confirm that the
Citizens' Charter fulfils the needs of the users. Regular monitoring, review
and evaluation of the Charters, both internally and through external
agencies, are commanded. Till April, 2006, 111 Citizens' Charters had been
articulated by the Central Government Ministries/ Departments/
Organisations and 668 Charters by various agencies of State Governments
& Administrations of Union Territories. Most of the national Charters are
posted on the government's websites and are open to public scrutiny. The
organisations with Citizens' Charters are advised to give publicity to their
Charters through such means as print/ electronic media and awareness
crusades.

Components of Citizen Charter

https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General­Studies/notes/citizens­charters.html 3/7
12/20/2017 Citizen's Charters, Citizen Charters in India

Vision and Mission Statement of the Organisation.

Details of Business transacted by the Organisation.
Details of 'Customers' or 'Clients'.
Statement of services including standards, quality, time frame etc.
provided to Customer/ Client and how/where to get the services.
Details of Grievance Redressal Mechanism and how to access it.
Expectations from the service recipients.

Plans of citizen charter:

Citizen's Charters in India: Current Status:

Citizen's Charters have currently been in place in India for almost a decade.
In 2006, the DARPG website listed 767 charters drafted by various
government agencies around the country.

Problems faced in implementing the Charters:

As indicated, the Citizens' Charters initiative in India had started in 1997

and the Charters formulated are in embryonic stage of implementation.
Introduction of a new thought is always di෣cult in any organisation.
Introduction and implementation of the concept of Citizens' Charter in the
Government of India was much more complicated due to the old
https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General­Studies/notes/citizens­charters.html 4/7
12/20/2017 Citizen's Charters, Citizen Charters in India

bureaucratic set up/procedures and the rigid attitudes of the work force.
The major obstacles encountered in this initiative were:

1. The general perception of organisations which formulated Citizens'

Charters was that the exercise was to be performed because there was
a direction from the top. The consultation process was minimal or
largely absent. It thus became one of the routine activities of the
organisation and had no focus.
2. For any Charter to thrive, the personnel responsible for its
implementation should have proper training and orientation, as
commitments of the Charter cannot be expected to be delivered by a
workforce that is unaware of the spirit and content of the Charter.
However, in many cases, the concerned staｓ were not su෣ciently
trained and sensitised.
3. Sometimes, transfers and reshu≝es of concerned o෣cers at the
critical stages of formulation/implementation of a Citizens' Charter in
an organisation severely destabilised the strategic processes which
were put in place and hampered the progress of the initiative.
4. Awareness campaigns to teach clients about the Charter were not
conducted systematically.
5. In some cases, the standards/time norms of services mentioned in
Citizens' Charter were either too negligent or too tight and were
impractical and created an unfavourable impression on the clients of
the Charter.
6. The notion behind the Citizens' Charter was not accurately
understood. Information brochures, publicity materials, pamphlets
produced earlier by the organisations were mistaken for Citizens'
Charters.

Deficiencies in the Existing Citizens' Charters

1. Lack of awareness and knowledge and inadequate publicity, hence loss

of trust among service seekers.
2. No training to the operative and supervisory staｓ.
3. Lack of infrastructure and initiative.
4. Hierarchy gap between the O෣cers and the Operative Staｓ-Need of
team eｓort.
5. Diｓerent mind-sets of o෣cers and the Staｓ- Insensitiveness on the
part of the Supervisors and the Staｓ because they are yet to be
sensitized.
https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General­Studies/notes/citizens­charters.html 5/7
12/20/2017 Citizen's Charters, Citizen Charters in India

6. Staｓ is not prepared to shoulder the responsibility due to lack of

motivation and accountability.
7. Non-revision, complicated and restrictive rules & procedures.

Guidelines for the Citizens' Charters in India

1. List all O෣ces according to type of services they provide to public -

Indicate their location, areas they cover, type of services being
rendered to public, and phone numbers.
2. There should be a separate Citizens' Charter (i.e., Local Citizens'
Charters) for each o෣ce covering the services they provide. For
example, there should be a separate Charter of the Directorate, its
subordinate o෣ces, Hospitals, Schools, etc. according to the particular
services they provide.
3. Mention Service Standards - Step-by-step-Procedure based on
'Where to go; how to proceed', simple and easy to fill-in Forms,
specimen of duly-filled in forms, documents, fees, etc. required,
reasonable time schedule, Do's & Don'ts, etc., names, addresses and
Tele. Nos. of concerned O෣cials, his alternate for each service, etc.
4. Minimum documentation, self-attestation and self-declaration.
5. No duplication - In case desired information and document submitted
earlier like proof of residence (if there is no change), birth certificate,
etc., it should not be asked again.
6. If promised services are not provided as per specified time schedule,
an eｓective grievance redressal mechanism (including the provision of
compensation to the concerned citizen in order to introduce
accountability) should be introduced.
7. Provision of "TATKAL" (Immediate) Services if somebody is in urgent
need (as in the case of Passport, Railways, etc.) to avoid touts, bribery,
etc.
8. Simultaneous changes in the Performa and other requirements to be
eｓected along with the changes made in the Citizens Charter.
9. Database of frequently required information, like ownership of
property, vehicle, etc., tax and dues paid or pending, etc.
10. If possible, the services and their related information may be
presented in a tabular form.
11. Salient features of each service should be prominently displayed in
simple and easy language at all places likely to be visited by the
service seekers.

https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General­Studies/notes/citizens­charters.html 6/7
12/20/2017 Citizen's Charters, Citizen Charters in India

To summarize, A Citizens' Charter denotes the promise of an organisation

towards standard, quality and time frame of service delivery, grievance
redressal mechanism, clearness and accountability. Based on the foreseen
expectations and aspirations of public, Citizens' Charters are to be drawn-
up with care and concern for the concerned service users. They allow the
service seekers to avail the services of the government departments with
minimum inconvenience and maximum speed.

Buy These Notes in PDF Format

Viewed using Just Read

https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General­Studies/notes/citizens­charters.html 7/7